Femme Fatale: Venom in LA
by Booksaboutnothing
Summary: Venom has moved on to become the lethal protector of Los Angeles, but now that age is catching up to him Eddie Brock starts looking for someone to carry on the Venom tradition.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Los Angeles, California

Eddie Brock looked down at the grungy city below him. This section of the city was a cess pool that just spawned crime, and at his age Eddie was doubtful that there was anything he could do to stop it all.

"Time may not affect you," Eddie said out loud to his symbiotic partner. "But it still has a hold on me."

Though Eddie was close to 60, he still only appeared to be in his mid 30's. In spite of that he was beginning to feel the effects of his age, even if they didn't appear outwardly. In his nightly rounds to try and reduce crime in this city he found that his stamina was no longer what it used to be. He was easily winded and he felt more and more tired as the night went on. In his years in L.A. he had developed a reputation, and now the gangs were aware of how to fight him. That didn't mean that they could beat him, but it did make the fight take a lot more out him. Eddie sighed as he looked out across the buildings towards the Pacific Ocean watching a few stray beams of light glimmer from where the sun had gone about fifteen minutes previously. In the sky above grey clouds were forming signalling the coming of rain. Seeing the light slowly fading Eddie couldn't help but wish for his own death. He had bonded with the symbiote when he was younger for the power, and to get revenge on Spiderman. But now those were meaningless to him, his life was empty and what he truly longed for was death.

His thoughts were interrupted by a scream that was quickly muffled. Eddie knew that while he may secretly wish for death, there were innocent people out there who wanted nothing to do with it. Taking on the complete form of his symbiotic other, Eddie once again became Venom, the lethal protector.

Four thugs were dragging a woman from a car into the backdoor of a run down apartment building. The woman was trying to scream, but one of the thugs had a leather gloved hand covering her mouth. She tried in desperation to bite it, but that only made him laugh.

"Ha, ha, she's a feisty one," he commented to his peers.

All of them had a laugh, but then a fifth voice joined in. This one sounding unlike any voice they had heard before. They all went silent, their hands slowly reaching for the Glock 9mm pistols they kept in their pockets.

"Who's there?" One of them called out.

"Just a guy who enjoys some comedy with his evening meal," the voice replied from the shadows.

Before they knew what was happening a massive black form leapt from the darkness. The only parts they could make out was a large spider shaped loge on it's chest, two white patches that seemed to be eyes, and a mouth filled with long razor sharp teeth and massive tongue dripping with green venomous looking saliva.

"Shit it's Venom!" one of the thugs shouted as he fired his gun wildly at Venom.

However, the bullets had almost no effect. Venom grabbed the gun and snapped it in half with one hand. With his other hand he grabbed the thug that had been shooting at him tossed him aside. He hit a wall face first and lay very still on the ground. Another thug came at him wielding a garbage can that he had picked up from nearby. But Venom just drove a massive fist into his back sending him crashing into a wall, the force snapping his neck with a sickening crack. Venom then faced the two other thugs. One of them pulled out a wicked looking knife and flipped a switch. The knife began emitting an odd wailing noise.

"Argh, what is that noise?" Venom yelled in anger as he grabbed the sides of his head.

"Just a little thing I bought in case I ever ran into you," the thug replied as he stabbed at Venom with the knife.

Eddie realized that his other was weakening. It couldn't stand the noise. He raised his left arm to protect himself but the knife stabbed into his shoulder leaving behind a nasty wound. Eddie swung his right arm hitting the other thug who was trying to beat him down with piece of pipe, in the face and sending him to the ground as his neck was snapped in an instant. Eddie then collapsed to the ground, exhausted, disappointed that it had to end like this as the symbiote slowly receded from his body. But just as the thug was bring the knife down in a vicious stab at Eddie's head the sound of a single gun shot rang out in the night. It took all of Eddie's strength to look up. He saw the woman he been trying to protect holding one of the thugs guns. The barrel was smoking and she was quivering. Eddie felt the thug topple over landing on his leg. He slowly crawled away to a wall and sat up against it, the symbiote was slowly spreading back out over his body.

"Are you okay," the woman asked bending down to talk to him.

Eddie realized that woman was probably the wrong word to describe her. She was probably only nineteen, maybe twenty; she was still just a girl. She reminded Eddie a bit of Peter Parker's wife Mary Jane, Eddie had always been jealous of him for that. She was a bit taller though and had hair that just barely reached her shoulders.

"I'll be fine," Eddie replied. "I'm just getting to old for this. I may not look it, but I'm fifty-eight."

"You're hurt," She said noticing Eddie's arm.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine," Eddie repeated.

"You're Venom," she stated simply.

"I see my reputation precedes me," Eddie commented. "And who are you?"

"I'm nobody," the girl replied.

"Well you've got to have a name. What is it?" Eddie asked.

"Kerri," she answered softly. "Kerri Cuthbertson"

"Eddie Brock," Eddie replied extending his hand.

Kerri stared at it nervously wondering whether or not to shake. Eddie didn't feel like wasting his strength on the gesture and let his arm fall to the ground.

"Tell me something Kerri," Eddie said as shifted to get himself a bit more comfortable. "What were those men going to do with you?"

"Whatever they wanted," Kerri replied timidly.

"Why'd they pick you to do that to?" Eddie asked. "Or was it just at random."

Kerri wasn't sure why but she felt that she could open up and reveal her secrets to this man. She had never met him before tonight, but now that he had saved her life she felt as though she should tell him everything.

"Dario Sanchez, do you know him?" the girl asked.

"The movie producer?" Eddie inquired.

The girl nodded an affirmative. "When I was thirteen my parents were killed by an avalanche in Colorado while I was at school. I was moved out here to live with my uncle who was writer, but other than the odd TV episode he had never had much success. My uncle made a deal with Dario. Dario agreed to make one of his stories into a movie, under the condition that my uncle gave me to Dario. But that never happened, once Dario had me he renegged on the deal with my uncle. My uncle couldn't take him to court since he didn't want anyone to know that he'd traded his niece to get a film made. I didn't really blame him. I knew how desperate he was, and he thought probably that Dario could give me things that he never could."

Eddie noticed how she was wringing her hands together the entire time she was talking. She stopped and looked at him; the look on her face was asking if Eddie really wanted to hear this next part.

"Please continue," Eddie said.

"Well Dario wasn't exactly interested in my well being. He's actually obsessed with keeping slaves, he doesn't feed them or anything. They just do what he wants until they die of starvation."

"Where does he get them from?" Eddie asked getting a bit concerned.

"Girls looking to be in his movies, kids like me from deals like my uncles, there's a lot ways he can get them," Kerri replied. "Fortunately for me my uncle found out what was happening and he broke me out. He sent me to San Diego to live with a friend of his, but while I was gone, he was killed. The official police report says that it was suicide, but my guess is that Dario had him killed. I came back to see if I could find anything out but, I got grabbed by those guys. They work for Dario and they were probably told to kill me, fortunately they wanted to have a little fun first and that's when you came along."

"You want to avenge your uncle's death, don't you?" Eddie asked.

"Yes," Kerri replied. "I think that he was a talented man and that Dario black-listed him and blackmailed him into give me away, and then had him killed for trying to fix his mistake. I want to kill Dario for what he did to my uncle."

"But you don't think you can fight back do you? You feel helpless and alone," Eddie said. "I can change that."

"Don't kill Dario," Kerri pleaded. "Please I want to do that myself."

"I wasn't planning on it," Eddie said with a sly grin.

"What are you talking about?" Kerri asked getting a bit worried now.

Just then there was a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder and then it began to rain. The black costume that was the symbiote began to ooze of Eddie's body into a puddle on the ground that sat underneath the both of them leaving Eddie sitting in a white t-shirt and a pair of pinstripe boxers.

"Like I said earlier, I'm getting to old for this," Eddie said. "I've lost the passion; I've lost the will to carry on. But you, you're young. You've got ambition."

The symbiote began to crawl up Kerri's legs, slowly at first, but then it began to move quicker as it spread across the rest of her body.

"What is it?" Kerri screamed in horror as the symbiote began to climb up onto her face.

"Don't be afraid," Eddie said as he watched in fascination.

The symbiote spread itself over Kerri's face covering her entire body in an inky blackness. Then the familiar white spider appeared on her chest and the white patches over her eyes. Finally the mouth appeared. Eddie had always known it was frightening but he had never seen that mouth first hand. He was glad to experience it once as the tongue dripped its venomous saliva down on him. The jaw opened up and the head retracted revealing Kerri's face. She looked down at her hands.

"What is it?" Kerri asked.

"It's what gave me my powers, it's what made me Venom," Eddie replied.

"So now, so now I'm Venom?" Kerri asked.

"Yes," Eddie replied. "Think of it as gift. Now you can get revenge on your uncle's killer."

Kerri dropped to her knees, "I can, I can feel it. It's speaking to me. But it's not in words, it's, it's strange and alien, but yet familiar, and comforting at the same time."

"It takes a little time to get used to," Eddie said. "Think of it as a second conscience. One with slightly more violent tendencies."

"This is going to take sometime getting used to," Kerri said.

"Listen to symbiote," Eddie advised her. "It knows what its doing."

"I guess we'd better get going," Kerri said.

"I'm not going anywhere," Eddie said with a slight chuckle.

"That's not…" Kerri stammered.

"Its minor drawback of being two beings bonded as one," Eddie said. "But you'll get used to it."

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Kerri asked one more time.

"I'm fine," Eddie said showing her his arm which was now healed. "The symbiote healed me up while we had our little chat."

Kerri smiled nervously a bit unsure of what to say, "Thank you," she finally managed to say.

She then took two steps back as the mask of Venom reformed over her face. She then leapt into the air, shot a strand of web at a nearby building and swung off.

"Good luck kid," Eddie whispered as he clutched his still sore arm. "You're gonna need it."

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Disclaimer: Eddie Brock and Venom do not belong to me. As far as I know generic thugs are allowed to be used by anyone, and Dario Sanchez and Kerri Cuthbertson are original character created by me.

This story is totally not for anybody who likes evil murder Venom; it is for fans of the anti-hero lethal protector Venom, just so that's clear. Reviews are always appreciated.

This story goes out to all the fans of my other Venom related stories. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kerri stood atop a tall office building looking out towards the Hollywood Hills. Rain came down all around her, on her, but it just bounced off the rubbery symbiote that now enveloped her body. Off in the distance was a massive, expansive mansion. It was the home of the man that had killed Kerri's uncle; the man that she had sworn to get revenge upon; Dario Sanchez. The symbiote split apart to reveal a pocket. Kerri reached in and pulled out her wallet. She flipped it open. Inside was an expired credit card, a bank card for a now defunct account, sixty-eight cents change, and a small picture. Delicately she removed the picture with her claw like fingers, sheltering it from the rain with one hand as she brought it up to her face with the other. In the picture was a man with curly red-hair and beady green eyes. He had a large nose and thin cheeks.

"I'll avenge your death Uncle Rusty," Kerri said softly to the picture.

The man in the picture just smiled back at her, his face unblinking. Rain drops dripped down the front of the symbiotic mask on Kerri's face like tears. She slid the picture back into the wallet and put it back into the symbiotic pocket. She stared down at her feet lost in thought. Her head then snapped upwards suddenly. The horrid tooth filled maw opened up in a vicious grin, "I'm ready," she said.

Dario Sanchez was sitting in his office reading over letters from various actors and actresses all appealing to him for parts in his movies. Dario had no intention of helping them. The only people he felt worthy of his assistance were those that tried to take it by force. That was how he had gotten to where he was; he had blackmailed and murdered his way to be the most successful producer in Hollywood. Dario's phone began to ring. He quickly snatched the receiver and brought it up to his ear.

"Make it quick," Dario said.

"It's Lieutenant Harris," the male voice on the other end said. "I've got some bad news; those four thugs you send to kill that girl earlier got killed themselves."

"How?" Dario asked angrily.

"They were killed, by Venom," Harris answered.

Dario calmed down a bit, "He probably thought he was just stopping a rape," Dario said, more trying to reassure himself than Harris. "It's a minor set back."

"Dario, that girl knows about your secrets," Harris said.

"I know that," Dario said. "That's why you're going to take care of the problem for me."

"But…" Harris stuttered.

"You _will_ take care of it," Dario said and he then hung up before Harris could say anything further.

Eddie Brock stepped into his crummy apartment and he flicked the light switched on. The light flickered for about two seconds before the room went dark once again. Normally Eddie didn't even need to bother with the light. The symbiote had made it much easier to see in the dark. He stumbled his way to the TV and flicked the switch giving the room a dim blue glow that made it a bit easier to see.

"…And twelve more officers are wounded after the capture of convicted serial killer Cletus Kassidy also known as Carnage. Police say that while Kassidy is safely in custody the symbiotic organism is still at large."

Eddie stared at the TV in disbelief reading the subtext under the story running on CNN. This had happened not that far away, which meant that the Carnage symbiote could be at large in Los Angeles. Eddie began having second thoughts about giving up his symbiote. He wasn't sure if Kerri would be able to deal with Carnage, or if she would even try to stop it. Just then he heard his balcony door slide open.

"Why are you here?" Eddie asked not looking away from the TV.

"I had questions," Kerri replied as she stepped into the apartment.

Eddie finally looked up at her. She was no longer Venom. She was wearing a black tank top, a short plaid skirt, and knee high black leather boots.

"There's nothing I can tell you that the symbiote doesn't already know," Eddie said not wanting to answer any questions.

Kerri stepped into his apartment and slid the door shut behind her.

"There's a lot you can tell me," Kerri said. "Like how did you do it all these years?"

"I don't know," Eddie replied. "I really just nothing better to do. It was what I was good at."

"Were the rumours true?" Kerri asked. "Were you really a criminal?"

"That depends who you ask," Eddie said. "I've killed a lot of people over the years. A lot of people don't like it when you take the law into your own hands."

"But what do you think?" Kerri asked.

"People committed crimes, I gave them the punishment they deserved," Eddie replied confidently.

"Did you ever have any regrets?" Kerri inquired.

Eddie paused to think for a moment, "No," he replied. "I made some mistakes; I did some things I'm not particularly proud of. But I have no regrets. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't change a thing. The same goes for you kid, do what you think is right and don't ever have any regrets."

The symbiote covered Kerri's body once more and she turned to leave.

"Kid, one more thing," Eddie called after her.

Kerri turned to look at him.

"Stay safe," Eddie said.

She gave a half smile, "Thanks." She replied.

As Eddie watched, the symbiote spread up and over her head, covering it with a cruel visage. Such a hideous image would have struck fear into the hearts of most men, but to Eddie it was one of the most beautiful things he had seen. It represented hope. Hope for the people of Los Angeles whose lives were being oppressed by crime lords, either in L.A. itself, or hiding safely in their mansions up in the hills.

Lieutenant Harris was a big burly man. He'd been on the force for nearly twenty years now. He remembered when he first joined how he had vowed to not put himself above the law, he laughed silently to himself thinking about how naïve he had been. It was pointless to not put oneself above the law. If you wanted to get ahead in this cutthroat town it was necessary, and that's how Harris saw it. He did what he had to, to get ahead and to get by. He didn't mind doing Dario Sanchez's dirty work. The man paid extremely well, much better than the salary he made as an officer.

However this latest assignment definitely made him a bit nervous. A girl that had been one of Dario slaves had come back to town trying to find evidence linking Dario to her Uncle's death. Several of Dario's hired goons had been told to kill her and to make it look like a random rape and murder. But Venom had shown up and he'd killed them. Harris hoped that the girl wasn't still being protected by Venom.

He pulled up outside a rather grungy looking apartment building. He double checked the address he had written down to make sure he was at the right place and then went inside. He went up to the sixth floor, apartment 6J, and knocked on the door. A few seconds later he heard the deadbolt being slid open and the lock being undone and the door opened up.

"It's kind of late," the young girl on the other side of the door said. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a Kerri Cuthbertson," Harris replied.

The girl pushed a lock of her red hair that had fallen in front of her right eye back over behind her ear and gave Harris a curious look as she studied him over.

"That's me," Kerri answered.

"Do you mind if I come in?" Harris asked.

She paused momentarily considering before she stepped back from the door and held it open to allow him in before closing it and sliding the deadbolt back into place.

"So what's this about?" Kerri inquired.

Harris drew his pistol from its holster and carefully screwed a silencer onto the end of the barrel.

"I'm just here to finish the job, that those useless punks screwed up," Harris replied.

When he looked up Kerri was no longer there. He looked around the room. It was dark and there was sign of the girl.

"Come on out," Harris called. "You're only delaying the inevitable."

"Well if that's the way you want it," a voice said from behind him.

Harris froze where he was, he could feel the hot breath of the person behind on the back of his neck. A hand grabbed his wrist and pulled it behind his back in a hammerlock. The skin seemed to have an odd rubbery texture. Then Harris felt something drip onto the back of his neck and sting. He spun around and found himself face to face with the very thing he had been afraid of running into. He wanted to scream but he found that his voice had already left him. He slowly backed away from the hideous creature before him.

_Venom seems smaller than I've heard in the rumours_, Harris thought to himself. That's when he realized that what stood before him wasn't Venom, it was some female copy.

"Who are you?" Harris asked.

"We are Venom," the creature replied as the hideous faces slid away to reveal Kerri's face. "But we are also Kerri Cuthbertson."

Harris wasn't going to let himself be afraid of some woman, especially not this little girl. He swung a fist and hit Kerri across the face sending her to the ground, he then ran for the door. He'd heard the rumours about Venom, about how bullets were useless against him. He wasn't equipped to deal with this problem. He had to get out of here. He tried to open the door but it caught on the deadbolt. He fumbled with the latch as he panicked to open it. He felt the hot breath on the back of his neck once again as a strong hand spun him around.

Harris opened his mouth to scream but his voice had once again left him.

"Please scream," Venom said. "It only makes it more enjoyable for us."

Harris' screams of terror could be heard from blocks away before they were abruptly ended.

Detective Linda Marshall arrived on the scene of a gruesome murder. The police that had arrived on the scene had already identified the victim as Lieutenant Michael Harris. This crime was likely going to be a very personal one, cop killers were the most sought after of all murderers. However, by the looks of this murder they weren't dealing with some ordinary murder. There was blood all over the floor, which was to be expected because Lieutenant Harris had literally been ripped in half. His legs lay near the door while his upper body was half way across the apartment, a large trail of blood leading away from the door to it.

"What do you think?" Linda asked her partner Ray.

"I'd say that he was ripped in half," Ray replied.

"But how? Nobody is that strong," Linda said. "Who was living in this apartment?"

"Landlord said he recently rented it to one Kerri Cuthbertson, age 19, we recently solved a suicide case involving her Uncle, the deceased Rusty Cuthbertson." Ray replied as he read from his notes.

"A nineteen year old girl couldn't have done this," Linda said. "But she may have been involved. There was no sign of forced entry, right?"

"Nope," Ray replied. "It looks like Lieutenant Harris was either invited in or allowed in, it's hard to say which. He did have two firearms on him."

"And yet he was ripped in two," Linda muttered.

"Maybe Lieutenant Harris was set up," Ray suggested. "He was involved in the investigation of this girl's uncle's death. Maybe she thought that Lieutenant Harris was somehow responsible and she lured him hear and with an accomplice and together they killed him."

Linda looked over Ray's notes, "The only problem with your theory is that nobody saw Kerri Cuthbertson return to her apartment," Linda said. "There's no sign that she's even been here tonight. For all we know Harris was in trouble with someone and they borrowed the girl's apartment to off him. There are just too many variables here. We need to find this girl and bring her in for questioning. Perhaps she can shed some light on what went on here tonight."

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Disclaimer: Venom and Carnage belong to Marvel and all the other characters belong to me.

Just a note, the first chapter was slightly rewritten on March 9, 2006 so if you read it before that you may want to re-read it. I just had to fix a few details that are bit key in Chapter 2.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Kerri watched from the roof the apartment across the street as the police went through her apartment. She was horrified at what she had just done. She had literally ripped a man in half with her bare hands. She was frightened of what the symbiote could do. But she had taken Eddies advice. She didn't regret what she had done at all. The man had most likely been working for Dario; there was really no other explanation as to why he would try to kill her. He deserved what he had gotten.

Kerri decided that she had to move quickly. She would at least be wanted for questioning by the police, even if she wasn't made a suspect. She already knew that she wouldn't be able to go back to her apartment for a while. She fired a web at a nearby building and swung off into the night.

Dario Sanchez was in his personal gym running on the treadmill when his personal assistant, Nicholas, came up holding a cordless phone.

"What's this about?" Dario asked shutting the treadmill down.

"It's a Detective Linda Marshall," Nicholas replied. "She asked to speak to you personally."

Dario snatched up the phone. "What's this about?" he demanded.

"Sir, I have a dead police officer on my hands and this is the last number than he called." The female voice on the other end said. "I'd like you to come down to the station for questioning."

"Dead officer?" Dario asked quizzically.

"I will tell you when you get down to the station," the woman said. "Don't force me to get a subpoena."

Before Dario could say anything else she hung up on him. He handed the phone back to Nicholas.

"Get my car ready," Dario instructed. "I have to go down to the police station."

Kerri stood outside Dario Sanchez's mansion. Just looking at it she had some bad memories of the brief period when she had been one of Dario's slaves. Refusal to follow orders resulted in beatings, which often came from Dario's incredible cruel and vicious wife, Delilah. Kerri unconsciously rubbed her back as she recalled receiving lashings for refusing to perform lewd sexual acts on Dario's wife. She had been the subject of the couple's entertainment for the evening, as they had viciously whipped her back. Channelling her rage she leapt up to the roof of the mansion and crawled across towards one of the skylights, She quietly pried it open and dropped down inside, now dressed in jeans and black shirt.

"Can I help you?" a voice asked from behind.

In the blink of an eye Kerri spun around and grabbed the person by the throat and slammed them up against the wall. She recognized him as Dario's personal assistant Nicholas.

"Where's Dario?" she demanded angrily.

"I, don't know," Nicholas managed to choke out

"Wrong answer!" Kerri shouted as she squeezed hard.

"Okay, he's, at, the, police station." Nicholas said as he tried to desperately take in air.

Kerri tossed Nicholas to the ground leaving him in a heap. By the time he picked himself up off the ground she was gone.

Dario Sanchez had just arrived at the police station when his cell phone began to ring.

"What is it?" He asked rudely as he flipped the phone open.

"Sir, there was a girl just here," his assistant Nicholas said.

"A girl?" Dario repeated slightly confused.

"She somehow got into the mansion, she was looking for you." Nicholas said.

"What did she look like?" Dario asked.

"She was tall, red head, I didn't get a good look she started to strangle me immediately." Nicholas answered. "She knows where you are."

"She won't try anything down here," Dario said. "I'm at the police station for fuck's sake."

"Sorry to bother you sir," Nicholas apologized before Dario hung up on him.

Dario slid his cellphone into his back pocket. He was a little worried about how a girl had been able to get into his mansion undetected. She had probably caught Nicholas by surprise and forced him to squeal, he'd deal with Nicholas' failure at later point in time. Now he walked up the steps into the police station and went up to the reception.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I got a call from a Detective Marshall," Dario replied.

"She's waiting in questioning room three," the receptionist replied. "Officer Kwan will escort you back there."

Dario followed a large Korean officer to one of the questioning rooms. Inside was a female detective sitting down at the table. The officer let Dario in and shut the door behind him.

"What can I help you with?" Dario asked as he took a seat across from her.

"What was your relationship with Lieutenant Harris?" Detective Marshall asked.

Dario had run through a series of possible questions and come up with answers on the drive over. "It was strictly professional," Dario replied. "Lieutenant Harris used to do a little security work for me on the side, and last I checked there was nothing illegal about that."

Detective Marshall nodded. "No, you're right, there isn't, unless that security work involves illegal activities."

Dario looked into her grey eyes trying to determine if she was bluffing or not. There was no way she could no anything about what Harris had done for him. Sure that had probably been a slip up here or there, but it was covered up enough that it surely could not have been discovered this soon after Harris' death.

"I really don't know what you're talking about," Dario answered.

"Does the name Kerri Cuthbertson sound at all familiar to you?" Marshall asked.

"I can't say it does," Dario lied.

"How about Russell Cuthbertson, better know as Rusty?" Marshall asked.

"Isn't he that writer that killed himself a couple months ago?" Dario inquired.

"So the story goes," Marshall replied. "But his niece suspected foul play and went looking to find out more about his death."

"That's nice," Dario said. "But how does this concern me?"

"Well you were a suspect in to Mister Cuthbertson's death, a case which Lieutenant Harris was rather involved in." Marshall answered.

"You're putting together a lot of circumstantial evidence there Detective," Dario warned her.

"If it turns out to be true you'll have a lot more charges on your head than just murder Mister Sanchez," Detective Marshall warned him, "There will perjury…"

She was cut off as the power suddenly went out.

"What's going on?" Dario asked.

Marshall pulled out her flashlight and made her way to the door. "Stay here," she instructed Dario. "You'll be safer. It might just be a power failure. But just in case…"

Linda Marshall stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. The police station was much too quiet. She unholstered her pistol and carefully scanned the corridors with her flash light. Seeing nothing unusual she cautiously advanced forward towards the front entrance. As her flashlight scanned the ground she saw two officers lying on the ground unconscious. She bent down, she could hear both of them still breathing, so something had knocked them out. Suddenly she felt a rubbery hand being cupped over her mouth from behind and an arm sliding up under her own and putting her in a half nelson of sorts.

"We don't wish to hurt you," a gravely voice said. "We just want you to tell us where Dario Sanchez is."

"Dario Sanchez isn't here," Marshall lied.

"Don't lie to me," the voice said, Marshall couldn't tell if it was male or female. It sounded like both. "We know that he's here. Now tell us where he is."

"What are you going to do to him?" Marshall asked.

"We're going to give him what he deserves," the person replied.

There was a noise down the hallway. Marshall then felt herself released. She spun around and shone her flashlight but there was nobody there. Marshall quickly made her way back to the questioning room, keeping her finger on the trigger of her pistol. When she arrived the door was already open and Dario was gone.

"Shit," Marshall cursed to herself.

Dario ran as fast he could towards his car, a black Ford GT. He quickly jumped in and gunned the engine and took off back towards the safety of his mansion.

Kerri watched in frustration as the car took off at too high a speed for her to match. She wasn't sure how Dario had gotten away; perhaps he had suspected something when she had shut off the power. Howling in rage Kerri slammed her fist into the nearby brick wall causing a fist sized crater of rubble to crumble to the ground.

**Unknown Location near Death Valley**

Two scientists, one a tall, skinny bald man the other a short, chubby man with white hair, and an average sized man in a brown business suit were standing in a laboratory.

"Is it ready?" the business man inquired.

"It is sir," the tall scientist replied. "But is this such a wise idea? When Drake tried this last time the experiment failed."

"The experiment didn't fail doctor," the business man retorted. "Drake made the mistake of trying to control the symbiotes. I just intend to profit from them. Do you know how much people out there are willing to pay to get their hands on these?"

"I would imagine quite a lot," the shorter scientist answered. "Given all the special abilities the symbiote can offer."

"Yes indeed. Now just to be sure we are in agreement, I get fifty percent of the profits and you each get twenty five." The business man said.

"I don't see why…" the tall one began to argue.

"I secured the Carnage symbiote, I am the one holding the auction, and I am the one who financed all of this." The business man said.

"That is a fair deal," the short scientist said elbowing his partner in the side.

"Good, then begin the aging process." The business man said.

On the nearby workbench were five transparent containers, each one had some form of emitting device on top. Inside each container was small colourful blob. At the end of the work bench was a control panel that connected to each of the emitting devices. The tall scientist pressed a button on the control panel.

"Device active, beginning emitting process." The tall scientist reported. "Device is operating at, twenty five percent capacity."

The emitting began to radiate the little blobs with energy. Each of the blobs began to expand.

"The process is working properly," the shorter scientist responded. "You can increase the intensity."

"Increasing to fifty percent capacity," the taller scientist affirmed. "Parameters seem normal."

The blobs continued to grow larger at much a quicker rate.

"Growth seems to be well within tolerable limits, increase the intensity." The shorter scientist said.

"Put it up to full power," the business man said.

"But sir that may cause cellular deterioration," the shorter scientist explained.

"I am a very busy man," the business man said. "Now do it."

The taller scientist looked at his partner and then began to increase the intensity. "Now operating at one hundred percent," he reported.

The symbiotes began to grow rapidly filling up their containers.

"Symbiote maturation process is complete, shut the emitter down," the shorter scientist said.

The taller scientist nodded and shut the machine down.

"Excellent work gentlemen," the business man said. "And now I shall give you an early word for a job well done."

Both men looked at him curiously but their curiosity quickly vanished and turned to panic when he withdrew a pistol from inside his jacket. He pointed it at the shorter scientist and fired a shot straight into his heart dropping him to the ground instantly. The taller scientist tried to turn and run but the man shot him in the back and he fell to the ground. The taller scientist rolled over onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. The last thing he saw was the flash of a pistol muzzle that was pointed at his forehead.

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Disclaimer: Drake and his process are taken from the Venom: Lethal Protector series (#4 & 5). Carnage is not my character.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Dario Sanchez's car came squealing up the driveway and skidded to a stop partway into his garden. He jumped out of the car and ran into the front entrance slamming and locking the door behind himself.

"Honey what's wrong?" his wife, Larissa, asked.

Dario turned to face his wife; she was a tall muscular, but still curvaceous woman. She had been a Lucha Libra wrestler before she had met Dario and become the hit star of one of his action movies that he produced. She long brown hair and brown eyes being of Latin American decent. She also had a notorious temper and could be incredibly cruel and sadistic, and that was what had drawn Dario to her. He had wanted a woman who could be as cruel and sadistic as he was, and Larissa was possibly even more so. But at this point none of that mattered to Dario.

"Remember that slave girl that got busted out by her uncle and then I had him killed?" Dario asked as he ran from window to window making sure that they were locked.

"Yeah," his wife replied. "What about it? I thought you had her killed."

"Well she would be," Dario said. "But it seems like she's found an ally, and it's not just some cop that believes her. It's Venom. He tried to kill me when I was down at the police station."

"The supposed creature that kills criminals for the helpless people in the ghetto?" Larissa asked sarcastically acting like her husband had gone completely mad.

"He's not a myth," Dario said. "He killed four of my men last night and then went and ripped one of the police officers working for me in half. He's real."

"Then locking the doors and windows won't do a damn thing," Larissa shouted as she started to panic a bit herself.

"You're right," Dario said. "I've got to make a phone call."

Dario quickly ran into his office and began flipping through his Rolodex; finding the number he wanted he picked up the phone and dialled the number.

"Hello?" The male voice on the other end answered.

"It's Dario Sanchez," Dario said. "I've got a problem, and I know you're the guy to help me."

"What kind of problem?" the man asked.

"I seem to have earned the ire of Venom," Dario said. "I need something to protect myself and my wife."

"Well as it happens I may have just acquired the very thing you need to protect yourself," the man replied. "But it will cost you."

"Just name your price," Dario said.

"Come to Wilshire Shed Road, just off of Oak Glen Road in 4 hours. Be ready to transfer five hundred million dollars." The man said. "And bring your wife with you."

"Five hundred million?" Dario asked. "That's steep."

"Believe me, it's worth every penny," the man assured him.

"Fine," Dario agreed. "But if this does not work you will have serious repercussions."

"I guarantee you will be pleased," the man reassured him.

Dario hung up the phone and quickly went back down stairs to find his wife.

"Get in the car," he instructed her. "We're about to go on a little trip?"

"We're running away?" she asked.

"No," Dario replied. "We're just going to get something that will protect us from that insane psychopathic murderer."

"I figured you be back," Eddie Brock said.

Eddie was sitting in the dark in his apartment, staring at the television, which was currently off, not showing anything.

"I can't do this," Kerri said. "I'm not cut out for this, and the symbiote wants to return to you."

She was standing just inside his balcony entrance. The symbiote had retracted leaving Kerri standing there in black pants and a black jacket. Eddie couldn't really see much else since she was silhouetted by the lights outside.

"I didn't ask for it either," Eddie said. "And I'm not taking the symbiote back. My time with it is up, it belongs to you now. Don't worry if you don't know what to do, the symbiote has all my experience; it will guide you."

"Why did you do it? How did you do it?" Kerri asked.

"What do you mean?" Eddie inquired for clarification.

"What is that made you Venom?" Kerri asked. "What is that drove you?"

"The system was corrupt, it still is," Eddie replied. "Somebody had to meet out the deserved punishment when the system only offered a slap on the wrist. Somebody had to protect the innocents from the criminals that preyed upon them, when the corrupt so called law sat by and did nothing. A lot of people may have issues with what I did, but that doesn't matter. I was doing something that needed to be done."

"Are you saying I should follow you example?" Kerri asked.

"I'm not telling you to do anything," Eddie said. "Whatever you want to do is your decision, not mine. But I didn't give you the symbiote just so you could avenge your Uncle's death."

"Oh god, somebody help me!" a woman screamed from outside.

"Here's your chance to make choice," Eddie said.

Kerri took a split second to make up her mind; the symbiote then enveloped her body. She took a last look at Eddie, her massive tooth filled maw twisted into a strange mockery of a grin as she turned and leapt off the balcony into the night.

"Good luck kid," Eddie said after her once again. "You'll need it."

"Please don't hurt me," a woman pleaded.

She had run up to the front door of an apartment in the hopes of getting in and escaping but the door was locked. She now sat on the ground hands raised in front of her face as she tried to keep away from her two attackers. They were both large bearded men. They had long tangled and matted hair and were dressed in old torn jeans and leather jackets. One of them held a piece of copper pipe, the other about 3 feet of rusty chain.

"Well that would take all the fun out of it," the one carrying the pipe said.

"Yeah," his partner agreed.

"You may want to reconsider" a voice behind them said.

Both of them turned around to see Kerri standing behind them in symbiote form.

"What is it?" the chain wielding creep asked.

"I don't know," the pipe wielding one replied. "But it's female. We can rape it after we stomp it into submission."

"So you want to feel womanly caresses?" Kerri asked.

She reached out and grabbed them each around the throat and lifted them into the air.

"Do you like feeling our fingers wrapped around your scabby, hairy throats?" she asked menacingly.

Neither man was able to form much of a reply, so Kerri tossed them out to the sidewalk. They hit the ground roughly and she sprang down towards them.

"We're going to rip out your guts and feed them to you!" Kerri threatened.

Kerri then began ripping the two hairy perverts apart with her vicious clawed hands, completely losing herself in the adrenalin rush.

"What are you doing?" the woman behind her asked in a panic.

Kerri suddenly snapped back into reality. She was holding what she could only guess was a liver in her black clawed hand.

"I, we…" Kerri stammered as she dropped the organ. "We saved you."

"You're a monster!" the woman screamed. "Stay away from me."

As Kerri stood there in a daze the woman ran away constantly looking back over her shoulder at Kerri, afraid that she would be next. Kerri was not about to chase after her, she was trying to figure out what just came over her.

"What possessed me to do this?" Kerri asked aloud as she looked at the carnage that she had created.

"It was you," Kerri said answering her own question. "You made me do this. But this, this isn't. I'm going to see Eddie."

"You're back early," Eddie said as he heard the screen door to the balcony open.

He had finally gotten up off the couch. He'd grabbed a package of instant noodles and was now sitting at his kitchen table slurping them down. A single uncovered light bulb hung over his head providing dim illumination to the entire apartment.

"I can't do this," Kerri said sliding the screen shut behind her. "This thing, this symbiote, it… I killed two men."

"So?" Eddie asked nonchalantly not even looking up at her.

"I ripped out their organs with my bare hands!" Kerri cried, as she stood there in symbiote form except for her face holding out her clawed hands. "I disembowelled them!"

"Did they deserve it?" Eddie asked calmly as he forked a large mouthful of noodles into his mouth.

"Well, they were about to rape a woman," Kerri replied.

"And would you have wanted to kill them even if you didn't have the symbiote?"

"Well, I guess, but I don't see what that has to do with anything," Kerri answered angrily.

"It has everything to do with it," Eddie explained. "The symbiote doesn't make you do anything that you don't really want to do."

"No," Kerri said. "Just no. There's no way that I, that I could do. No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

"The symbiote feeds off of your base emotions; anger being its favourite. It will try and emphasize your anger, push you to act on it. But in the end everything that happens is your choice." Eddie said.

"So that was me?" Kerri asked. "I wanted to do that? I wanted to rip them to pieces?"

"You'll get used to it," Eddie answered with a shrug as he focused on his noodles once again.

"I'll get used to it? I'll get used to it!" Kerri exclaimed. "That's just great, I'll get used to the fact that I have homicidal tendencies to rip people apart!"

Eddie slurped another clump of noodles. "Yep," he replied simply. "I did."

"How can you make it seem so easy?" Kerri asked angrily.

"I never said it was easy," Eddie replied. "In fact it isn't supposed to be easy. Not liking it is what keeps you human. If you give in you become something else. I don't really know much about psychology so I'm not going to try and give you some kind of scientific explanation, nor am I a philosopher who can give you a philosophic explanation. You've got to find those explanations yourself. But I do know that you can't just give up on this opportunity."

There was a long moment of no conversation between Eddie and Kerri. The only sound was the sound of Eddie as he finished eating his noodles. He stood up and put his bowl in the sink.

"You're right," Kerri said. "I've got to go. Hopefully I'll never have to come here again."

"Well if you do I don't really mind," Eddie said as he turned on the taps.

When he turned around to say good-bye she was already gone, the screen door open. Eddie walked over to the screen door and slid it shut.

"Take care of her," Eddie said softly.

Dario Sanchez and his wife arrived in their Ford GT on the dusty road known as Wilshire Shed Road.

"What are we doing out here?" Larissa asked.

"This guy claims that he can defend us against Venom, and I'm here to see what he has to offer." Dario replied.

At the side of the road a rather non-descript blue '95 Ford Taurus was parked with the four way flashers on. Dario pulled over in front of the car and shut his own down and got out. An average sized man with thinning curly black hair and hazel eyes stepped out of the Ford Taurus. He was wearing a brown suit.

"Alistair Douglas," Dario said. "What have you been up to?"

"Just the usual scheme to make money," Alistair Douglas replied.

"This is my wife Larissa," Dario introduced.

"Pleasure," Alistair said nodding at Larissa get only a slight smile in return. "Anyway shall we just get down to business?"

Dario nodded. Alistair led Dario and Larissa around his car to his trunk. He opened the trunk. Inside were five jars, each with a different coloured liquid in it. Alistair reached in and picked one of the jars up.

"You brought me out here and asked me to pay five hundred million dollars for large jar of colourful goop?" Dario asked angrily.

"This isn't goop," Alistair said.

"Then what is it?" Larissa asked angrily.

"This," Alistair said holding up a jar containing a swirling pink and black liquid, "Is a symbiote. Like one of the symbiotes that gives Venom his power. And they can be yours."

"I want proof that these will work or I'm not going to pay the money." Dario said.

"I'm not a fool," Alistair said. "I'm not about to turn over a potentially lethal weapon before receiving payment. But you have my personal guarantee that if the symbiotes do not work as advertised I will refund every penny."

Dario stood there considering the offer. However his wife quickly made up his mind for him.

"Give me that," she said snatching the jar away from Alistair.

She twisted the large lid off the jar. The symbiote inside immediately leapt out and began to latch onto her, spreading itself all over her body as Dario watched nervously and Alistair in awe. The bonding process did not take long. Once it was finished, a pink creature with swirling bits of black that had once been Larissa stood before them. The creature looked similar to Carnage but with pink tendril like hair.

"Larissa, you in there?" Dario asked.

"Of course I'm in here," Larissa snarled back.

"Why don't you test it out?" Alistair suggested.

Larissa walked around back to the Ford GT and grabbed it by the rear bumper.

"What are you doing?" Dario asked.

"What does it look like?" Larissa snapped back. "I'm checking out how strong this thing made me."

She quickly lifted car up over her head. Dario staggered backwards in disbelief.

"Whoa," he managed to say.

"Now I believe there was the matter of payment," Alistair said.

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Symbiotes, Carnage and anything else that may have appeared in Marvel isn't mine. Also, Ford is not paying me to use their cars (although I wish they were) it's pure coincidence.


End file.
